Conference turris::womannotes-v3

It started a couple of years ago, when I noticed that other people had
cute and distinctive signatures and I didn't.  About that time I had a
sharp upswing in my self-esteem, and so to show my new enthusiasm about
myself I started signing my postings as

Diana
  !

But that took too much work to type in two lines, so it got collapsed
into "D!ana" when someone pointed out to me that the "!" looked like an
upside-down "i".  That got further shortened to "D!" because 1) I'm 
lazy and 2) many people call me "D" anyway.  So "D!" (pronounced
"dbang") became my net.nickname, sorta by accident.

More interesting is my nickname "D".  My mother's name is Donna, and so
when I was small and my parents still lived together, my father used to
call her "Big D" and me "Little D".  Then when my brother (6 years younger
than me) started talking he couldn't pronounce "Diana" so he called
me "Di-di" (pronounced "dee dee").  That was my nickname for years, then
I decided it was too "cute".  Since my parents were now divorced and so
I was the only "D" (my brother, Daniel David, for some reason was never 
a "D"), and since I was much to big to be "Little D" I opted for just "D".
The only people who ever used "D" were my family and very close friends,
and myself.

Then when I went to college I was feeling lonely and lost and isolated; so
I started telling people I met to call me "D" since it had lots of
warm-fuzzy-intimate feelings for me and made me feel less alone.  So
at this point, most of my friends (especially my net.friends) call me
"D" or "Dbang".  Now things have sort of reversed...I get warm-fuzzies
from being called "Diana" because now it seems that the only people who
use it (other than people with whom I am in a formal relationship, such
as co-workers) are my parents and close friends and lovers.  (Many people
in the net world don't even *know* my real name.)

More than you ever wanted to know about Diana Elane Carroll's name.  :-)
["Elane" comes from my grandmother's maiden name: Estelle Lane -> E. Lane ->
Elane.]

D!

    Kimmy.
    
    My family always used to call me Kimmy.  Now I notice from time to 
    time that people call me Kimmy without being asked.  I don't mind,
    in fact, I like it. It makes me remember my grandmother, whose voice
    I can fondly recall saying "Kimmy, I wouldn't hurt you for the world."
    when I was about seven, crying because I thought she was angry with
    me.  She always spoke loudly, and it was easily interpreted as yelling.
    Anyway, a little off the subject.  That's the only nickname I have had,
    and I like it.  
    
    Kimmy

    PJ is only used in NOTES. My Great-grandfather and namesake, was know
    around Hudson NH. as PJ and I thought if I'm gonna be close to these
    wonderful people, I wanna be distinguished from my outside
    aquaintances, so PJ it is. I had a nickname in high school (Boris) I
    never did figure out why. It was meant to be insulting at first. (Kids
    can be cruel) After awhile it got to feeling normal. Everyone called 
    me Boris and it was unusual to hear Phil, even from teachers.
    I do love PJ though.
    
    PJ

    Hello.
    
    The coincidence was TOO much to let go.
    
The translations for my first name are:

Cynthia - From Mount Cynthius, Mountain of the Moon
Selena  - G/ of the moon
Phoebe  - "
*Diana   - "

My middle name is Elaine-
*Elaine-
Elana
Elena
Helen
   Light or Tree in it's various forms.
 
It can therefore be considered Moonlight, which I am sometimes known by.

As luck would have it, by this formula- It appears I could also be 
be D!'s alter ego.

Coincidence?

Cindi

    

    I've been called:
    
    Linda-Lou
    Linda Lovelace
    Lin
    and my favorite which resulted from my own misspelling of my name
    Lid
    
    Linda
    
    Pretty hum-drum after .1
    

    When I  was in third grade, one of classmates, trying to be cruel,
    called  me  Witty  as  a  takeoff  on my last name. I knew what it
    meant,  and had no objections, and he thought he was insulting me.
    So we were both happy. My younger brother was less pleased when my
    high school classmates reffered to him as "Half Witt"

    I'm stilll  called  Witt  when  I'm  in a group with a plethora of
    Davids.

--David

    well, I have a couple of nicknames....Dee, Nise, Nee Nee (my Dad's
    favorite),  I like Dee, that kinda cute,  my grandson calls me Nise...
    and so does the rest of my family....
    
    denise
    
    

My notes and e-mail name, Mac, comes from the login name I used
before I came to Digital.  For 5 1/2 years I was mac to my electronic
friends, so when I came to Digital I kept the nickname (but uppercased
the M), even though I got a new login name. Some of my electronic
friends call me Mac in person, but no one else does.

I've been Dee Dee pretty much forever. Some people have made the mistake of
calling me "Neecy" and maybe one or two have lived to tell about it ;-)
(I hate that nick name). When I started working here most people called me
Denise, and the only person who ever called me tht before was my mom and my
sister, and that was only when they were mad at me (DENISE LOUISE BLANCHARD,
I SAID, GET OVER HERE!!!). I finally told people that I really prefer to be
called Dee. My notes and mail name comes from the fact that I am too lazy to
hit uppercase most of the time (besides, I am a big ee cumming fan :-)

dee

    
    Mr. Binder - my apologies for calling you Larry. There's a Larry Binder
    here at Hudson and my brain was on auto-pilot.
    
    I won't even ask what your given name is.

    My *favorite* nickname is Jonnie Bean (for Bonnie Jeanne).
    I wrote in confidential chat in the Boston Globe (sort 
    of a newspaper version of notes) under that name. My father
    started calling me that when I was quite small.
    
    My oldest son, Michael, has the middle name of Burton, after
    my dad, as a baby I called him 'Micheal Bean' and then
    'bean' ;-)..
    
    other nick names have been 'bon' 'bj' 'bonstance' 'bonzo' 'kitty'
    (*very* short lived), 'hon' etc.....
    
    I'm starting to get used to 'grandma'
    
    ;-)
    
    Jonnie Bean

    My  nickname actually IS Jody.  They came up with it before they came
    up with my real name (Judith - which I use only on official
    certificates and such).  I was SUPPOSED to be a boy I was kicking so
    hard, but I came out a girl instead - so James was scrapped as a name,
    and they liked JODY but it didn't sound fancy enough for officialdom,
    and they didn't like Josephine or Joanne as the "root name" for Jody,
    so they decided on Judith.
    
    In the past I've been called variations of it by endeared people, Dee,
    Jodes, Jodester, Jodles, Yodels, Jodes, and Jo.....weirdest nickname I
    encountered for a brief period was JM (which for a while I thought were
    my first two initials, which they are, but then I found out the peole
    who had created the moniker meant it as an abbreviation for "jailbait
    magnet" ;)....
    
    
    -Jody

    how does elizabeth become lee?  by being russkaya:
    
    elizavieta mikhailovna (daughter of michael) ==>
    elizabeth michael (on the birth certificate)  ==>
    liza (pronounced LEE-zuh, russki familiar form of elizabeth) ==>
    lizinka (pronounced LEE-zing-kuh, russki diminutive of liza) ==>
    lizinka (pronounced luh-ZING-kuh at school) ==> yuck, ptooey
    kaa (youngest brother) ==> yuck, ptooey
    lee (other little brother + dad) ==> okedoke
    LeeT (my dad is known by his students as mr t, his family as the ts)
                                                               

    I have many nicknames, probably cuz I'll answer to anything! ;*)
    
    I would most LOVE to be called by my FULL given name, Bonnie Lou, but
    since I was a kid, I've always been called, Bonnie (just, bonnie). I
    think it would be odd if I started asking people I've known for years
    to call me Bonnie Lou. If (I'm sure I meant WHEN) I relocate out of
    this Hell hole (massachusetts) I'll introduce myself by my REAL name.
    
    Bonnie, Bon, Bonzo, Bonzai, Bon-Bon, Bonster, Bonnie-Bell, Bonnie Baby,
    Bonnest, Bonald, Bonita, Boney Bonnie *AND* (I hated this one) SCRAWNEY
    BONNIE.
    
    My dad used to sing this to me: "Bonnie, Bonnie, she's so boney, she's
    as skinny as a stick of macaroni!" & from that Boney maroni!!
    
    Bon

        Officially I am Daniel and my written signature uses
        that, as does official stuff.  Otherwise I use Dan and
        that is mostly what other people call me.
        
        Past nicknames ...
        
        in high school:
        	
        	professor
        	Bowmar			(from a calculator company)
        	Abe, Abraham		(as in Lincoln, from my beard)
        
        in college:
        
        	twin d, double d	(from my initials)
        	Ayatollah		(the beard was much longer in 79-80)
        
        Dan

    The only interesting thing about my nickname is the way I spell it.
    The first time I had to write it, when I was a tad, the only way I
    had ever seen it spelled was on a Vick's Cough Drops box.  I never
    bothered to correct it.
    
    				- Vick 

    re:17
    
    Bonnie Lynn
    Bonnie Marie
    Bonnie Sue (My parents almost named me this)
    
                     
    
    Bonnie Lou
           
        
    
    

    "Ray" is my legal name.  (The story goes that my dad, John E. Davis,
    was so tired of people in the Navy knowing him only by the diminutive
    "Dave" that he wanted his kids to have undiminutivable names.  There's
    an obvious flaw in his logic which is left as an exercise for the
    reader.  (: >,)
    
    I've had a zillion pet names applied to me, though.  Raimondo, Rael,
    Rage Mark, Preach, Sister Ray, Brother Ray, Rock, Yar, and Shane (!)
    come to mind, but there were others. 
    
    In conferences or correspondence in which I feel very comfey, I tend to
    switch monnikers with almost every message.  My reliables in my
    comfiest conference are "Rage Ohwell" (come up with as a pseudonym when
    me and my pal Yanagi were planning a "Down and Out in Paris and London"
    vacation) and "Sadie Vary" (a near anagram).
    
    Random Denomination

    
    I only use 'gail in Notes - I'm called Abby in the office.
    My full name is Abigail.
    
    I do have just one friend (met through Notes) who calls me 'gail
    in person, and I also have a nickname of Kate (after Shakespeare's
    shrew ;-)
    
    
    

never had a real nickname; when my mom picked my name, people told her everyone
would call me Sally, but no one ever has. (Fine with me.)

My dad called me Toothpick when I was a skinny little sprout.

My husband is a major-league teaser --  if he likes you that is, if not he is
very formal -- and he has had an evolving series of nicknames for me, most of
which I will answer to but none of which stick around for more than a year or
so.

Sara

    
    My SO calls me Puff.  I call him Spot.  If we ever get a new sailboat,
    we will call it Puff's Spot.  It's all after the Dick and Jane series
    of readers way back when we both were tots in school.  We think it 
    cute but others may not because they don't understand.  My first 
    husband called me "Sam".  I have no idea why.  Maybe that's why
    he's my "ex" husband.  The light dawns.
    
    Sue
    

    
    	My dad has always called me Muffet.  When I was little he
    	used to say "Little Miss Muffet sat on her tuffet....etc"
    	But instead of 'frightened Miss Muffet away' he'd say "and
    	he bit her in the belly" and he'd do just that.  He still
    	calls me Muffet.
    
    	In Jr. High I was dubbed Dictionary cuz I could spell just
    	about any word thrown at me.  My classmates were convinced
    	I read the dictionary.  =)
    
    	In HS is where my notes signoff name of JJ originated.  My
    	Jr. year we did West Side Story as the school musical.  There
    	were two Judy's in the show; me and the girl who played Anita.
    	Well the guy who played Bernardo starting calling the two of
    	us JouJou.  Hers didn't stick, but mine did!  From then on, my
    	friends called me JouJou.  When I came to DEC I shortened it to
    	JJ and started signing my notes that way.  Shortly after starting
    	here I dated a guy that made it longer by calling me JouJouliet.
    	Thus my nodename!  =)   Some made it even shorter by just calling
    	me J.
    
    
    	JJ
    
    	

    I suppose, technically, "Beth" is a nickname, since my official name is
    Elizabeth - but my folks tell me that they wanted to call me "Beth" all
    along, and put the longer version on the birth certificate because (a)
    there was an Elizabeth among the great-great-<mumble>-grandparents,
    making it a "family" name, and (b) they figured otherwise I'd be
    hassled by teachers and beaurocrats who would assume "Beth" was short
    for something. 
    
    Other than that, I've never really had nicknames; well, there was
    "Betsy" in college, chosen by my friends because it was the most
    annoying diminutive of Elizabeth they could find. ;-)  And Dad used to
    call me "E-liz" (emphasis on the "E"; imagine it with a Louisiana drawl
    and you've got it). But that's about it.
    
    Except, of course, for "Gory Details". But that's another story.
    
    -b

    Yeah, I get that, "PLEASE, use your real name, Bonita." I tell them
    
    it's not Bonita, "It's BONNIE!"
    
    Bon

    My real name is La Wana Joy.  I started using L.J. when I worked
    with the public...most folks can't won't pronounce it correctly 
    and I hate making them feel uncomfortable.  I never liked Joy
    (nor, actually La Wana), so L.J. seems appropriate. 
    
    Only very close friends and family still call me La Wana.
    
    
    
                                     L.J.

    I was given the nickname "Woody" in High School because we had 5
    "Kathys" in my class.  It stuck all thru college, where I was also
    surrounded by Kathys.  I've become used to it and still use it at 
    work. Sometimes, I'll sign notes "Woody" so that the readers don't 
    know I'm female.  
    
    Other variations of the nickname:
    
    Woody-woodeye
    Wood-woman
    Wood-monster
    Woodrow
    
    
    Kathleen Marie 
    
    

    My dad calls me "Gus" -- has done so since I was about 18 months old.
    It has to do with my early fondness underwear with lots of trimmings
    and sparklies on them and my total lack [up to the age of 10] of any
    shame when the world got a good look at the gorgeous little things.
    "Gus" is the shortened version of Gussie Moran -- a flashy tennis star
    whose flashy britches were frequently seen whilst she was darting
    around the court.
    
    My mother used to call "Sara" after the Divine Sara.  Something to do
    with my dramatic predisposition. 
    
    I was "AJ" for a long while [1976-1987] to various co-workers.
    
    Other than "Gus", I don't have any nicknames anymore.  I guess people
    think Annie is enough.

        My favorite nickname is Weezie.  I acquired this nickname when I
        was doing a co-op job in college.  As the only female engineer, and
        by far the youngest person at the company, the guys *loved* to tease
        me about anything and everything.  When they found out my middle name
        was Louise, an immediate connection was made to The Jeffersons
        (we're movin' on UP...), hence "Weezie".  Or Weez, for short.

        Of course, with a last name like Nale, I also had a few of
        "original" nicknames which were spin-offs: Spike, Rusty...

        Sue

	Ray (.20)
	My brother's name is also Ray.  Not Raymond, which I like to call him
	to tick him off.  Poor kid got lots of family nicknames growing up,
	all of which he hates:
	
	Raybo
	Ray-bee-boo-boo
	Ray-bee-baby-boo-boo

	(all said with a sing-song)

	Now he signs his e-mail Razor.  Much cooler, for a college kid.

	Sue (Weezie)

    I love nicknames!  Most people call me Pam, my dad sometimes calls me
    Pamela, and I get warm fuzzies when I spontaneously start being called
    Pammi or Pammie or Pammy or however it is spelled.  
    
    Other nicknames:  The Pamster, Pambela, Pamitha, Pamantha, Pamalina,
    Prude/Slut (from my highschool part in "Carousel" where my character
    was a straightlaced girl who got married and by the second act had 10
    kids, quite a shift from act 1 to act 2), Pablum, Pammer, Mapula.
    
    My best friend moved away in 9th grade.  She was also named Pam.  While
    we were friends, we were called Pam Squared, the Pams, Pam1/Pam2, etc. 
    We'd write letters to each other with wild incarnations of our name: 
    To Pamaleenaweena Milic from Pamawannahanna Smith, etc.  We laughed
    anyway, who knows that the mailman thought?!
    
    Pam

	When I joined DEC, there were 3 other "Tom"s in my group,
	(not counting the CC manager), one of whom's office was
	adjacent to mine. Tom_K became a way of differentiating
	to which Tom an over the wall remark or question was 
	directed.

					Tom_K

    
    My parents couldn't think of  middle name to go with Bonnie so they
    didn't give me one. All my life I had to convince people that I really
    didn't have a middle name. My friends call me The Bon.
    
    p.s. For a fairly uncommon name, I think there are 5 or 6 in this
    conference. I like it!
    
    bonnie

    Ya know, Banks,
    
    At first I figured your first name MUST be Robin, if you don't like to
    use it! ...Robin Banks....see...it could be worse!  %^)
    
    Bonnie NO MI, If you ever need to, you can borrow MY middle name! ;*)
    
    Bonnie Lou

    My brothers call me "Wogs" or "Wogsy" which, to state the obvious, is
    short for Polywog.  
    
    Polly

I'll never tell.   Only my high school friends know for sure.

john

    In addition to friends and family who have called me "D" and variations
    thereon, I have been known by a number of other nicknames, mostly of my
    own choosing, including:
    
    Lady Luck (and variations such as Lady, Luck, Luckster, Luck-o, Lucky,
       LL, etc.  Also Ifni, which is Dolphin for Lady Luck from David Brin's
       books.  "Lady Luck" was a fertile source of jokes, ranging from 
       people I didn't like being "Lucky Strikes" to "Down on my Luck"
       which I will leave to your imagination.)
    Nestle
    Spaz
    Killa
    
    I have also been known under various pseudonyms, which aren't exactly
    nicknames, but every now and then I run into someone who knows me as:
    Linda Eagan, Unicorn, Nathan Brazil, or TJ.
    
    D!

    Worm
    
    Trouble
    
    Don't ask me why.  They're completely undeserved.
    Richard

    Uunmmm well, my full name being Tracy-Anne Menzies Rorison Wason, means
    I have and still have a number of nicknames.
    
    0 - pre-school age I was called Tuppence or Tracy-Anne
    At school I got Trace (a name my family *refused* to ever call
    me), Tray or Rori(the lion) or Rori Tracerson.
    
    At work I get Trace, T. Big T., and now that I am married get Tracy
    Wasy, Twacy Wasy.  My hubbie started calling me Tracy-babe at work and
    now all his workmates call me Tracy-babe (blush!)  He addresses all
    b'day cards etc to Tracy-Anne but calls me Traz-anne and is the only
    one to do so which I like.  
    
    
    Tracy W.

    re:  .34  Hi Bonnie!
    
    I never liked my full name: Dorothy, and when I was younger I was
    called Dee Dee, (first and last name initials) never liked that either,
    now most everyone calls me Dotti, except my former husband he calls me
    Dots.
    
    -Dotti.

From "The Boys Next Door", a play by Tom Griffin about life in a half-way 
house for the mentally handicapped. The play opens with the following monologue
from Arnold.


ARNOLD: (Directly to the audience)  My name is Arnold Wiggins. I'm basically
	a nervous person.  People call me Arnold because I don't have a nick-
	name. So I pretend that Arnold is my nickname so that when people call
	me Arnold, I pretend that they are close personal friends who know me
	by my nickname: Arnold.

    
    My Dad's nickname for me always used to be Blue Knees.  The reason
    being that when I was a little girl my parents used to try to get me to
    say my name, Samantha Louise.  It always came out "Mamamfa Blue Knees"!
    :-)
    
    Sometimes he still uses it!
    
    Sam
    

    .44 --  That was a wonderful play -- I got to see it in Peterborough NH
    	with a very talented actor named Max Robinson playing Arnold.  It
    	really hit home since I worked in a sheltered workshop while in
    	high school.
    
    	To most people, it's just Ron.  To a few (and it's been mostly
    	spontaneous, and usually after a few beers), it's Ronnie, although
    	I generally don't encourage it... 8^)  And to my college roommates,
    	it's Elwood (my middle name).  The latest is one that's sprung up
    	out of my project team  -- Fahma (as in Fahma Brown).  Strictly
    	New England...
    
    	Ron

    My SO and brewpartner calls me Slug.  Sometimes I even deserve it.
    It rhymes with my name, and it sorta goes with her nickname (used
    exclusively during the homebrewing process.)  We call our beers by
    special names, based upon our activities, or their flavors, or some
    significant event (Zoo Brew, the day we went to the Zoo; Chocolate
    Trailer Stout, for the Chocolate Malt used and the first day we pulled
    our new bicycle trailer on a ride).  But our overall 'brand name' for
    all our beers, is 'Slug and Sweeties'.
    
    Well, our friends like it ;-).
    
    DougO

    I am a magnet for nicknames.  Probably because Margaret cries out to be
    shortened, punned, mispronounced, misspelled and otherwise mangled.
    
    As a kid I wnt through the usual lot of Margaret nicknames: Peggy, Meg,
    Maggie, Magee, Margit, Molly, Pegala, Pegeen, Megeen, etc.  My Mom
    still calls me Peggy.  I guess she's too old to change, and why
    would she want to change something that so clealy gets my goat.
    
    Friends in High School called me Peaches, a reference to both
    complexion and bra-size. I was also Kanga, because my best friend,
    named Ruth, was always called Roo. *I* called her Piebald Hippogriff.
    
    Many folks call me "Giant Woman."  A moniker bestowed by an artist
    friend who was fascinated by my height (a trifle over 6'). 
    
    Jim calls me Kitty because I like to snuggle and do a passing fair cat
    imitation.
    
    I have another name which I won't write here.  To protect the innocent.
    Really.

    Yo, Weezie!
    
    Yeah, I forgot all the "Raybo"s, but I kinda like it.
    
    And Radio, Rayburn, Railroad (my initials are R.R.), Dusty (for my hair
    color and my prodigious thirst), Queen Bitch, Man Ray, oy oy oy....
    
    But I always wanted to be named after my hero, Ignatz Mouse.  (: >,)
    
    Ray

    Moe - I hate it!  My grandmother started this when I was young.  I used
    to scream and cry everytime she called me Moe - my mother would tell
    her to stop calling me Moe.  
    
    Then I got into school and later work and no matter I went,  to this
    day, I will introduce myself as Maureen, my nameplate says Maureen, I
    sign Maureen, and it always ends up -----> MOE.
    
    One time a boss of mine sent out a letter and she was using me as a
    contact person - she told them to contact Moe Becker - I freaked!
    
    Cant get away from it!
    MAUREEN

    Hey "Maureen"!  Good to see you here!  Of course, since I always call
    you Maureen, I now expect to get points for it!  ;-)
    
      -HA  (Who used to be called "Twiggy" in highschool and hated it!)

    Maureen,
    
    I can relate!  I hate being called Chris, but just about everyone does.
    I can live with it, but what really irks me are the folks who ASK what
    you prefer to be called, I say "Christine" and they say "ok, Chris".
    GGRRR!  Why ask?!?
    
    Growing up nicknames:  Chrissy, Chrissy-Maloo.  The first was a family
    or close friend nickname, second strictly family (my mom had to make it
    rhyme with my brother's and sister's nicknames-I'm glad she stuck to
    her day job!).  Every now and then, somebody will try to get away with
    calling me Chrissy.  It just feels weird.  Even my fiance doesn't call
    me that-only those who knew me when I was younger.
    
    High School:  Nursie.  My older brother was Doc, so I became Nursie,
    my sister Nursie Junior.
    
    Work:  see first paragraph, but I am re-training everyone.
    
    This note reminded me of the way my brother and I tortured my little
    sister with pesky nicknames growing up.  The best one I thought he
    came up with for her was Names.  She'd always go crying to mom saying
    Mike was calling her names.  Mike would deny it and say no, I called
    her _____.
    
    Christine

    Becky and Pete.  (My maiden name was Ann Rebecca Peterson.)
    
    Today, no nicknames, Ann in spoken conversation, aq if I'm communicating 
    electronically.
    
    My husband is Max - though my mother-in-law called him Maxie  :(
    
    Our children are:
    
    	Elisabeth Ann Quayle
    		Lisa (that's why the biblical spelling of Elisabeth)
    		Lizzy-buffy
    		Listabus
    		Lisa Poo
    		Bones and Bony Maroney
    		Frog
    		Elisabeth Ann Pan
    		Tweet Heart
    		Precious Pearl, Darling Girl
    
    	Max Peterson Quayle
    		Pete
    		Fat Boy (he's now 6 feet tall and slim - time flies)
    		Big Boy	
    		Peterson-Pie
    		Pete Pie
    		Peach Pie and Chocolate Pie (more appetizing than vanilla)
    		Ultra Max
    		Maxi Pad (school "friends")
    		Pie Oh My
    		PeTURson
    		Maximillian
                Pride and Joy, Darling Boy
    
    	Bonnie Rebecca Quayle
    		Precious Pearl, Darling Girl
    		Becca (I suppose because I was still Becky at the time)
    	        Abecca
    		Peek-A-Boo
    		Peeky Boo
    		Peeky Bee
    		Becca Boo
    		Bisses
    		Bissy and Bissy Bissy Boodle
                Sweet Patootie (or Patootie or Patoot for short)
    	      	Pretty Patootie
    		Sweet Pea
    		Miss Priss
    		Fred (as in, "Go to bed, Fred")
    		Bones
    		BBQ (for Bonnie 'Becca Quayle) (She hates this.)
    		Cinderella (her self-appellation, used to remind me that
    			I'm being a wicked mom)
    	
    There was supposed to be another daughter, but it didn't happen.  I'm
    not sure what we would have named her, but her first nickname was
    picked out:  Rock-A-Bye.  This would have given us Poo, Pie, Boo, and Bye.
    
    I think Becca got the most nicknames because she had the most people
    hanging them on her (since she's the youngest).
    
    aq                                       
    

    Greetings
    
    Everyone else gets better nicknames but me:-(.
    
    I call my wife Twink when I once got the saying fouled up that 
    she was the "Twinkle of my smile." 
    
    Our dispatcher's name is Tammy and I jokingly call her Tamster.
    
    The closest that I get to anything like a nickname is that I am 
    referred to as "Mud the Stud." I was the account rep for a hospital in
    town and had to do PM's at the site at 5:00 am. My manager on a visit
    asked for an opinion of how I was doing, the customer said something
    like I was okay however they thought I was, let me say this as gently
    as possiable, attempting to (how you say in this country) make moves on
    the women there. Not bad but none of the 3 of the women there was under
    50! I told my boss that I was only concerned that the customer found me
    resistable!
    
    Fred Mudgett

    Chelsea is a nickname.  It comes from a slurring of my initials, KLC. 
    I chose it as my alias for a real-time conferencing facility at college 
    called XYZ.  Then, when Unix arrived, people got accounts with
    nicknames.  I considered my real name kinda dull, so I got an account
    as chelsea.  Then people started calling me chelsea.  When I arrived at
    Digital, I wanted to have the same account name.  There were three
    people doing system management and the one I ran into was an Ultrix
    guy.  He had no problem with the idea of setting up an account with a
    nickname instead of a last name.  It caused a minor stir, until people
    got used to it.  One of the benefits of having a long last name. 
    (Comes in handy, now that there's a ChristensEn in the group.)
    
    My other major nickname is KC, also from my initials and also acquired
    in college.  My cousin sent me some record posters and I didn't want
    them all.  I was working at the radio stations, so I hung them up.  I
    wrote a note inviting people to take what they wanted.  It was written
    from paper off the AP wire, which is some 7" wide, and I was writing
    with a big marker.  So rather than signing my name, I signed my
    initials.  And people started calling me KC.
    
    This caused some confusion when I visited someone at Phi Tau (a co-ed
    fraternity I eventually joined).  It seems they already had a KC, so
    signing KC to someone's message board sent him looking for the wrong
    direction.  We were both from Texas, too.  But she liked Pepsi and I
    liked Coke, so I was occasionally known as KC sub-Coke when the context
    wasn't clear.  I also used K(L)C as a signature.
    
    Mom's favorite nickname for me remains a family secret....
          

    Chelsea is a slurring of "KLC"?  Does that mean it's pronounced
    "Kel-see"?  I've been pronouncing it "chel-see" all along, like the
    town name.
    
    D!

    I too have been pronouncing it "chel-see". And what is your real name?
    Karen? Kim? Kate?
    
    manisha

    I've been pronouncing it "chel-see" too, which I like as a name.  One
    of my cousins named her daughter Kelsy or Kelsey (not sure of
    spelling).
    
    Lorna
    

	Jonni (like in Johnny)..

	My parents were being pressured into giving "baby gillman" a name
	as it was time to take her home, so there was a list of names,
	and the nurse chose Jonni.

	The birth certificate is Joann Lisbeth Gillman.

	To some of my friends, I am J. Lisbeth Gillperson.  To some
	men folk, without my permission, I am Joann (I dislike that,
	but some persist anyway.. a rat-hole best left alone?).

	I guess I am conditioned to be Jonni, although I have never been
	comfortable with the remarks.. "did your parents want a boy" or
	getting mail from cub and boy scouts et. al. requesting me to join 
	during that awkward time of puberty (AND sassoon haircuts.. anyone 
	remember that style of cut?? ;-)).

	Here's a story.. very early on in grade school I came home crying
	to my mom saying I didn't like being called Jonni..sniffle..
	so Mom, smiling, said "well, how about Joann?" (no I replied, you
	only call me that when you're ANGRY with me..sniff!), "Liz? Beth?
	Betsy?" my mother probed.  (No - tears galore...)
	
	"Well, then what do you want to be called?"

	"Gerry" I replied, "like you!" (her name is Geraldine - nickname Gerry)

	Of course my mother thought (still thinks) this was hysterically funny 
	and to my embarrassment told *everyone*.  Now see the irony /humor in 
	it, but what she never saw was that she was my MOTHER, the epitome of
	all that is feminine etc.. and *that* was what I wanted to be (even
	though I was a tomboy big-time, I still needed that female-ness, and
	identity).

	oh well, now I am signed an innocuous:

			..jlg 		(thanks to U*IX ;-)).
	

    Re: .56, .57, .58
    
    No, it's pronounced "chel-see."  It's _very_ slurred....  While
    "Kelsey" is the obvious derivation from the initials, I had other plans
    for it.  I was going to use it as a last name for either a pen name or
    a mike name.  (I was doing college radio at the time, and apparently
    the first thing people do when they get on the air is think about
    calling themselves something else.)  The original name is Karen, which
    I find rather ordinary.  But then, familiarity breeds contempt.
    
    Because I was so used to "chelsea" in the Unix context, it took me a
    long time to be able to capitalize it....

growing up in a small town in New Mexico, my best buddy in the whole world
was Sarah Ermalinda Romero, and of course, I am Dian.  We used to skate at
the local wood-floored skating rink and spent most of our spare time there,
polishing our spins, etc.  The owner of the rink was a retired railroad
engineer, Tommy (never knew his last name), who had some trouble getting
around so we pitched in and helped run the place.  One day, after we both
had assisted in moving some rental skates for him, he turned to me and said,
"you know, you remind me of my best friend, Jake - he was always there to
help a friend"....well, at the tender age of 12, I became "Jake Wilde"...
and Sarah became "Charlee".  These nicknames still hang on us both when we
are back in Las Cruces, even though we are now 44 year old women.  Somehow,
I think it has helped keep our friendship really alive, even though we are
of two different races - and there was a time when it was not considered
good that Charlee and I were running around together...a long time, in fact -
and even though I have never married while Charlee has been wife and mother
for 24 years.  However, we were/are a team, Jake and Charlee.

I cannot think of Charlee as anything but Charlee and I know I will always
be Jake to her.

    my family has called me 'rene (pronounced either reen as in green, or
    more often renie (as in genie) since I am named for my maternal
    grandmother who was Greek (pronounced Ih-reen-eh, rolling the "r" a
    bit). 
    
    At work I like to be called rene, Renie seems  either too personal or
    diminuative unless the person is close.  Besides, rene has one
    syllable!
    
    (and NO-ONE calls me by my first name - for the paternal grandmother
    who didn't get on well with her daughter-in-law...), so we leave it at:
    
    	S. Irene Hensley
    
    
    I usually tell em "S" means "Silly first name" and dropped it from my
    business cards so I wouldn't have to 'splain. 

    My birth name is Mary Elizabeth Cross.  My mom, whose name is also
    Mary, had a cute name for me called Mary Little Bit.
    
    Until I got out of college I was known as Betsy by everyone except my
    mom who called me Mary.  I later decided to use Mary because I got
    tired of answering people's questions like "If your name is Mary how
    come people call you Betsy?"  But I actually regret it now 'cause I
    liked Betsy.
    
    My brothers came up with some very imaginitive nicknames for me which
    I have never revealed even to my husband, and shall remain a secret.
    
    I've been known as
    	Betsy Ross
    	Chris Cross
    	Red Cross
    	Betso
    	Betz
    	Mare
    	M&M
    
    But my favorite nickname is "Butterfly Buns", which I obtained while
    playing softball in college.  I had patched the posterior of my
    favorite blue jeans with a patch in the shape of a pink butterfly
    and I even embroidered some antenna on it.  I was playing shortstop
    and went to field a grounder when the left fielder called out, "Go
    get it Butterfly Buns!"  It stuck and throughout college I was known
    as "Buns" for short.
    
    Mary